So was I but here on NSXPrime I seem to remember more than a few people declaring it ugly and a unsuitable replacement.
I thought it looked cool. The photos of the ASC did not turn me on.
maybe in person it would have been different but alas, clay can't take cold weather, so it never made it to NYC.:tongue: :biggrin:
This got me to looking back at the old 2002-2003 HSC posts to really see if that was true. After going back and reading them I honestly think the general response was very, very positive for the HSC based on the fact that everyone posting had the (correct) attitude that it was nothing but a concept. That fact somewhat eludes us now because we now know an NSX replacement never came but back then everyone was certain that it would come. We sometimes forget how far away it was from production because it ended up being the closest thing to a replacement NSX we ever had.
What I got from going back and looking at those very old posts is that the people who actually criticized the HSC were just really hoping Honda could do better knowing that this was just a concept. Some folks did some minor photoshopping on some of the early pics and the critics really came around and responded positively, meaning that with a few minor changes the HSC might have been successful and that Honda was on the right track.
I think if the HSC had undergone a final design stage and Honda really worked hard to tweak the body and gave it 400 hp or even used the 3.2L w/ CTSC it would have been embraced by the NSX community. Also, it being introduced in 2002 didn't help as photos of the Gallardo and F430 were starting to leak out and the HSC looked less extreme in comparison. If Honda had introduced it in 2000-2001 for a 2002-2003 release it would have hit like a ton of bricks, even with "only" 400 hp. By 2008 it would have been on it's first update and gotten a tweak in looks and power to move ahead of the aging Gallardo and F430.
Honda didn't do a thing. As far as I'm concerned I could care less about the NSX replacement because they've already abandoned any plans to make the NSX replacement similar to the NSX. Honda publicly associated the NSX with the ASCC which was just sickening IMO. It's not an NSX replacement and they ought to call it what it is. I'll never forget the day they dropped that curtain to reveal the NSX pic behind the ASCC. I really felt ill. I knew at that moment every NSX just went up in value because there might not ever be anything like it ever again.
"We are developing it without any delays..." What a joke. The whole thing has been one huge delay! The support for the NSX and S2000 over their lifespans was nothing but one big delay. I trust not one iota of information from Honda and they've got some serious mountains to climb with the GT-R on the horizon. From my perspective Toyota and Nissan are just blowing Honda away in every concievable way. And don't forget that Toyota is probably going to revive the Supra which will probably be a stripped-down LF-A and much closer to the GT-R's price. So there will be multiple dragons to slay.
By the time Honda does anything the GT-R will already be ready for it's first update...
